Starting off its season in exciting comeback fashion, the Boston University women’s basketball team kicked off the 2011-2012 school year with both a win and loss this weekend against Providence College and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, respectively.
Friday night’s home game against the Providence Friars (0-1) provided the Terriers (1-1) their first triumph of the season with a close 65-62 final score.
“We made adjustments and I thought the defense was great,” BU head coach Kelly Greenberg said.
The Friars dominated the first half, nearly proving to be too much for the Terriers to handle. With a lead of 41-28 over BU, Providence appeared to be the clear victors in the game’s early stages.
However, a whole new BU team took the court after halftime, getting the entire crowd on their feet to cheer them to a close but decided victory.
“I put the first few minutes on me. They changed their lineup, put in people we weren’t expecting,” Greenberg said. “I thought the guards in the first half were just breaking us down . . . They’re a great rebounding team, no one stopped playing.”
Greenberg largely credited the defense with the team’s comeback, as well as a decreasing resistance from the Friars.
“[The defense] played more aggressively, played the ball more,” she said. “We had to come out and be more aggressive for them [in the second half] . . . We were banking on [Providence] not making the same shots.”
Senior guard Alex Young led the night with 24 points against Providence, along with seven rebounds, followed by junior guard Chantell Alford, last year’s America East Conference player of the year, with 13 points.
“The defense was where the come back came from . . . [At the start of the game] I missed a couple of shot, then got three,” Young said, following Friday’s triumph. Regarding her excellent record, she said, “Coach has a lot of confidence in me and that means a lot.”
Sunday’s game against UMass (1-0) was not as successful for the Terriers, as they were defeated 55-49.
“I thought our defense was good, we just couldn’t knock down some shots,” Greenberg said. “We ran out of gas, unfortunately. It was a game we really should’ve won.”
Sophomore forward Rashidat Agboola led the team with 21 points for the game, including 16 rebounds.
“Rashidat Agboola is just terrific – we have a pretty good perspective, expectations of her, and she succeeded them on Friday and Sunday,” said Greenberg.
Greenberg also commended junior guard Mo Moran for her play, not necessarily for tallying up the most points, but consistently performing as a “steady force for us.”
Despite the loss, Young achieved a career milestone, as she scored her 1,000th point in her four-year career with the Terriers.
“Alex just loves the game,” Greenberg said. “Her biggest strengths are how much she cares about BU basketball and how competitive she is. She’s one of the most competitive players [on the team]. I really have no negatives to say about her. She’s very consistent.”
With an even record of both a win and a loss, the Terriers’ record harkens back to last year’s opening weekend, when they split games against Boston College and Yale University.
Once again this season, they also face a difficult schedule of competitive, nonconference games, many of which are on the road.
The Terriers have high hopes of reaching their end result of last season, when they came in second in the America East after a season-ending loss to the University of Hartford in the conference championship game.
The Terriers next see action against the University of Richmond on Friday night in Richmond, Va. at 7 p.m. From there, the team will be off until Nov. 22 when they host Northeastern University at Case Gymnasium.
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